Terrorism

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will ensure that any move they make against terrorism, their bases, weapons and funds will include all groups operating in the United Kingdom.

Lord Rooker: The Government are determined that this country should not be used as a base for the planning and preparation of terrorism, both within the United Kingdom or overseas. The extension of the proscription regime earlier this year to include international terrorist organisations demonstrates this Government's commitment to change the climate in which supporters of terrorism seek to operate in this country. The United Kingdom has no intention of becoming a place of refuge for international terrorists and their supporters.
	To this end the Government are looking at a package of finance measures to strengthen existing legislation against terrorism. As my right honourable friend the Home Secretary has said, this will include further measures to tackle the funding of terrorists. In addition, the Proceeds of Crime Bill will be introduced shortly and contains measures to remove illegally-gained assets from criminals, including terrorists.

Asylum Seekers Voucher Scheme

Lord Judd: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What progress they have made in their review of the voucher scheme for asylum seekers; and what changes they propose to make.

Lord Rooker: The Home Secretary intends to report on the reviews of the voucher and dispersal schemes when he announces his proposals about immigration and asylum policy later this month.

Paul Wright and Zahid Mubarek

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the deaths in official custody of Paul Wright (1996) and, Zahid Mubarek (2000) will now be the subject of inquiries satisfying the five criteria laid down in the case of Jordan v United Kingdom.

Lord Rooker: An independent investigation into the circumstances of Paul Wright's death in Leeds prison in 1996, ordered by Mr Justice Jackson, is under way and its findings will be made publicly available.
	My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has been granted leave to appeal against the judgment of Mr Justice Hooper, published on 5 October, that an independent public investigation must be held into the murder of Zahid Mubarek in Feltham Young Offender Institution in March 2000. It is therefore inappropriate to comment further at present.

Trafficking in Human Beings

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they expect to publish legislation penalising trafficking in persons; and whether they will do so in draft.

Lord Rooker: The Government are committed to ensuring that strong measures are in place to penalise people trafficking. We have signed the Trafficking Protocol to the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organised Crime, which requires the specific criminalisation of trafficking in human beings.
	The Government are also currently negotiating a binding European Union Instrument: a Framework Decision, which requires the criminalisation of trafficking in human beings for the purposes of exploiting their labour and services or for sexual exploitation. The instrument is being considered by the European Scrutiny Committee and the Select Committee on the European Union. Under its provisions the UK will be required to have implemented the instrument within two years of its adoption.
	A decision will be made on the legislation needed to implement the UN and EU agreements after the EU Framework Decision has been adopted and we will bring forward measures when parliamentary time allows. Any legislation to implement the UN and EU agreements will take account of the outcome of the consultation exercise on Setting the Boundaries, the report of the Sex Offences Review, which made recommendations for a new offence of trafficking for sexual exploitation.
	The Government will continue to keep the situation under review.

Gibraltar: Ministerial Level Talks

Lord Varley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have agreed a date with Spain for the resumption of ministerial level talks on Gibraltar under the Brussels Process.

Baroness Amos: Ministerial level talks with Spain on Gibraltar under the Brussels Process took place in London on 26 July.

Wilton Park Executive Agency

Baroness Nicol: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How the Wilton Park Executive Agency performed against the targets agreed for 2000-01; and what are the agreed targets for the current year.

Baroness Amos: Wilton Park met all four of the agreed targets set for the 2000-01 financial year, for income, cost recovery, the number of conference participants and cost per head to the FCO overall. Wilton Park's performance in 2000-01 and targets for the current year are shown below.
	
		
			  2000-01 targets 2000-01 peformance 2000-02 targets 
			 Income £2,500,000 £2,870,000 £2,963,000 
			 Cost recovery 82.3% 87.4% 86% 
			 Number of conference participants 2,400 3,093 2,400 
			 Cost to FCO per participant £224 £134 £203 
		
	
	The number of conference participants in 2000-01 was significantly higher than in previous years. This has had a significant impact on the cost-per-participant figure.

Antarctic Treaty Secretariat

Lord Stone of Blackheath: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether there has been any decision on the location of the proposed Antarctic Treaty Secretariat.

Baroness Amos: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs confirmed to Dr Adalberto Rodriquez Giavarini, Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship, during their talks in London on 17 July that, in response to commitments made by the Argentine Minister of Defence, Dr Horacio Jaunarena, in Buenos Aires on 6 July to strengthen the civilian scientific elements of Argentina's Antarctic programme, the UK would join a consensus on the location of the proposed Antarctic Treaty Secretariat. This was relayed to the recent meeting of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM XXIV) in St Petersburg. The texts of the Argentine and UK Statements of 6 July and 17 July respectively have been deposited in the Library of the House.

Lord Ashcroft

Lord Newby: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by Dr Denis Macshane on 20 July (H.C. Deb., 484W), whether they will place in the Library of the House any correspondence the Department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has had with the lawyers of Lord Ashcroft subsequent to this letter of 26 January.

Baroness Amos: As Minister responsible, my right honourable friend Peter Hain, the Minister of State, wrote to the noble Lord on 8 August. Copies of the letter have been placed in the Library of the House.

Electricity from Renewables

Lord Judd: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is their assessment of the objective, advocated by Greenpeace and others, of achieving 100 per cent electricity from renewables within 40 years.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: Longer term targets for renewables are currently being considered as part of the wider energy review that is due to report at the end of the year. When this is complete we will have a better idea of what might be achieved over the next 40 years and the costs which would be attached to different courses of action, though over such a timescale as 40 years any scenarios are bound to be very speculative.

Children's Education: Parental Responsibility

Lord Northbourne: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is the statutory or other basis for the statement in paragraph 3.38 of their White Paper, Schools Achieving Success, that "Parents are responsible for establishing good behaviour at home, for getting their children to school and for supporting schools and teachers in setting standards for good behaviour at school"; and whether they are confident that all parents, including non-residential fathers, are aware of and accept these responsibilities.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: Most parents take seriously their responsibilities towards their children. We brought in home-school agreements through the 1998 School Standards and Framework Act to ensure that all parents understood and accepted their responsibilities in relation to their children's education. All schools are required to set up home school agreements, in consultation with parents, which should make clear in non-legal terms what home and school's role and responsibilities in the education of children should be. An agreement can cover aspects like ensuring a child attends school and supporting the school in maintaining good behaviour and discipline. A school should encourage all parents (including non-resident parents) to sign this once it is agreed so they know where they stand.
	Reinforcing parental responsibility is something we have also taken action on, through introducing parenting orders. The parenting order (Section 8 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998) forms part of the drive to provide parents with increased support and to assist them in developing better parenting skills. It is not intended to punish parents but to reinforce parental responsibility. It aims to help and support parents in controlling the behaviour of their children. Parents attending counselling sessions receive assistance in improving their parenting skills and learn how to enforce consistent standards of behaviour or respond more effectively to challenging adolescent demands. They can also be required to ensure, for example, that their child goes to school every day or is home by a certain time at night.
	Parents have a legal duty to secure suitable full-time education for their children of compulsory school age, either by registering them at a school or by making other arrangements. If a child fails to attend their school regularly, their parents are guilty of an offence and could be liable to a fine. The courts may also impose a parenting order.

Combined Heat and Power

Lord Judd: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What action they are taking to encourage combined heat and power schemes as a means of reducing carbon dioxide emissions; what percentage of United Kingdom generating capacity they intend should be made up to such schemes; and what is their timetable for achieving this objective.

Lord Whitty: The Government have put in place a range of measures to support good quality CHP. These include climate change levy exemption; enhanced capital allowances; business rating exemption for plant and machinery and information and advice services provided through the Energy Efficiency Best Practice programme. A new Community Energy programme from April 2002 will provide grants to support the installation of good quality CHP.
	The Government will be issuing a draft CHP strategy in the coming months which will set out the measures needed to achieve the target to more than double good quality CHP electrical capacity to at least 10,000MWe by 2010.
	Based on current estimates of expected UK capacity for the electricity supply industry, published in the DTI's paper EP68, the Government's target of 10,000MWe of CHP capacity in 2010 would account for between 13 and 15 per cent of total UK generation capacity.

Heart and Lung Transplant Service

Lord Morris of Manchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What recent developments there have been in relation to selecting the fourth national cardiothoracic transplant centre; and when they now expect to announce a decision.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Government's proposals for developing the adult heart and lung transplantation service are set out in the discussion document, National Adult Heart and Lung Transplant Service, published on 21 September 2001. A copy is available in the Library.

Health Service Comparisons

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they accept the accuracy of the information published in the Sunday Times on 22 July showing how European continental health services compare with those in Great Britain; and, in particular, that the average waiting time for cataract removal, heart by-pass, hernia and knee replacement operations is longer in Britain than in France, Germany or the Netherlands; that health spending as a percentage of gross domestic product is smaller; and that the number of hospital beds per 1,000 of population is smaller; and, if not, whether they will publish what they consider to be accurate information on these matters.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The average waiting time information for England, as set out in the Sunday Times article, reflects the position in 1999-2000. This is the latest available information. Accurate information on waiting times for specific procedures in other countries is not available at present. A study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in which we will be participating will look at this very issue. As part of the NHS Plan, by the end of 2005 no one in England will wait more than six months for admission to hospital once it has been decided that treatment is needed.
	The Sunday Times article made no specific reference to gross domestic products. We are however committed to increasing health spending towards the average of the European Union and by 2003-04 health spending in this country as a proportion of GDP will increase to around 7.7 per cent. The article made no comparisons of hospital bed numbers either. However, in England last year we saw the first increase in the number of general and acute hospital beds in this country since 1971 and the largest increase since records began in 1960. This takes us a third of the way towards the NHS Plan target of 2,100 extra general and acute beds by April 2004.

Millennium Bridge

Lord Lipsey: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they expect the Millennium Bridge to reopen; and, if so, when.

Baroness Blackstone: The Millennium Bridge's project designers and engineers have been investigating the best way to limit the excessive movement which led to the Millennium Bridge's closure in June 2000. Remedial works are currently being carried out which are due to finish at the end of October. Following these works there will be further testing. The bridge will reopen once testing has proved successful.

Royal Parks Agency Review

Baroness Goudie: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they will respond to the recommendations in the report on the five year review of the Royal Parks Agency.

Baroness Blackstone: The report's main conclusion and recommendation was that responsibility for the Royal Parks should remain with central Government and that the Royal Parks Agency (RPA) should continue to manage them, although the department should work towards establishing the Royal Parks as a non-departmental public body (NDPB). The Government accept this recommendation and would like to see early progress to the change of status to NDPB. It is the Government's intention, therefore, to establish the Royal Parks as a NDPB from 1 April 2002. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport will retain responsibility for the management of the Royal Parks but will be seeking Parliament's approval of an order under the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 to delegate her day-to-day responsibilities to the new body. The Government have accepted all the recommendations in the report for improving the efficiency of the Royal Parks Agency. The Chief Executive has already achieved much in implementing these. This work will continue as part of the preparations for NDPB status. The Government accept the recommendation that the Royal Parks should be policed by a uniformed force. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Home Office are discussing the future relationship between the Royal Parks Constabulary and the Metropolitan Police Service so as to ensure the most efficient and cost-effective policing of the Royal Parks.
	The Government believe that NDPB status, with the management of the Royal Parks guided by an expert and experienced board, will provide the Royal Parks with greater freedom and focus to continue to build on the high standard of presentation of the Royal Parks which has improved even further in recent years.

Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission Report

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will implement the recommendations of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission's report on effectiveness made to the Secretary of State in February.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: We were pleased to receive the recommendations from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission under section 69(2) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. We are currently considering all of the recommendations and will respond to these fully in due course.

Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission Report

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they intend to amend the Northern Ireland Act 1998 to empower the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commisson to intervene as a third party in any court, tribunal, inquest, hearing or adjudicative process involving law, policy or practice relating to the promotion or protection of human rights in Northern Ireland.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: We were pleased to receive the recommendations from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission under section 69(2) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. We are currently considering all of the recommendations and will respond to these fully in due course.

Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission Report

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they intend to amend the Northern Ireland Act 1998 to empower the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission to compel the giving of oral or written evidence as part of its power to conduct investigations.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: We were pleased to receive the recommendations from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission under section 69(2) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. We are currently considering all of their recommendations and will respond to these fully in due course.

Northern Ireland: Plastic Bullets

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What individuals or organisations requested the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission to make its call of 18 July for the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary to stop using "plastic bullets".

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: These are matters for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. The Chief Commissioner has been asked to write to the noble Lord. A copy of his letter will be placed in the Library.

Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission: Chief Commissioner

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether and when the Chief Commissioner, Professor Brice Dickson, of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, will accede to the request to resign, made by the former First Minister of Northern Ireland, David Trimble, in Parliament on 19 July; and whether and when he will be joined by the other Commissioners.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. The Chief Commissioner has been asked to write to the noble Lord. A copy of his letter will be placed in the Library.

Northern Ireland: Human Rights Abuses

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What steps the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has taken since 1 March 1999 to highlight human rights abuses carried out by republican and loyalist paramilitaries.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. The Chief Commissioner has been asked to write to the noble Lord. A copy of his letter will be placed in the Library.

Omagh Bombing: Victims' Relatives

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has done since 1 March 1999 to help the relatives of the victims of the Omagh bomb on 15 August 1998.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. The Chief Commissioner has been asked to write to the noble Lord. A copy of his letter will be placed in the Library.

Northern Ireland: UFO Crash

Lord Hill-Norton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What search operation took place following reports of the crash of an unidentified object in Northern Ireland on 13 February 2001.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: I refer the noble Lord to a letter from the Army Headquarters Northern Ireland to UFO and Paranormal Research Ireland, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House of Lords.

Northern Ireland: Prisoner Sentence Plans

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many hours per week of (a) education and training and (b) work were carried out by prisoners in Northern Ireland in the most recent years; by how much this will be increased in 2001-02; whether the percentage of sentence plans is being improved; and, if so, by how much and over what period.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: The prisoner population in Northern Ireland received an average of 906 hours education and 2,668 hours work (vocational training and industry workshops) per week in the 2000-01 financial year.
	For the year ended March 2001 an average of 65.4 per cent of the eligible prisoner population were following a sentence plan. Up to the end of September 2001 an average of 77.6 per cent of the eligible prisoner population were following a sentence plan.

Public Sector Ombudsmen Review

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by Lord Macdonald of Tradeston on 11 July (WA 82), whether they expect to be able to set out their conclusions in relation to the consultation exercise before the end of this year; and, if not, why not.

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: In July this year, the Government made a statement on the consultation exercise on the review of the Public Sector Ombudsmen in England. In this statement the Government reaffirmed their commitment to the renaissance of public services, improving access and delivery and driving up standards. The effective handling of complaints is an important element of this programme of renewal. But there will be times where, having pursued a complaint about a particular public service, a complainant remains dissatisfied. Such cases need to be considered independently and that role is fulfilled by, among others, the public sector ombudsmen in England that were the subject of this review. These ombudsmen comprise the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, the Health Service Commissioner and the Commission for Local Administration (which comprises the three Local Government Ombudsmen and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration ex officio).
	In 1999, following representations from the ombudsmen, the Government announced a review to determine whether the present arrangements are in the best interest of complainants and others, against the background of moves towards more integrated public services and an increasing focus on the needs of the consumers of such services. The review team consulted widely and their report was published in April 2000. A consultation paper seeking views on the review's main recommendations and its other conclusions was published in June 2000. In all we received 174 responses to the consultation paper and copies have been placed in the Library of the House together with a statement of the Government's conclusions.
	Briefly, these are that, in light of the responses received to the consultation paper, the Government are satisfied that there is broad support for the review's main recommendations.
	We therefore intend to replace the existing arrangements by a unified and flexible ombudsman body for central and local government and the National Health Service (excluding NHS Pensions, which will continue to fall under the jurisdiction of the Pensions Ombudsman, established by Part X of the Pensions Schemes Act 1993 (as amended). In line with the review's recommendations, there will be direct access to this new body irrespective of whether the complaint is concerned wholly or in part with a central government body. Furthermore, and again in line with the review's recommendations, the new body will have a collegiate structure within which the individual ombudsmen are identified with a particular group of the bodies under jurisdiction but free to carry out crosscutting investigations. Proposals for the precise powers and accountability of the new body, and on whether its jurisdiction should be extended beyond the bodies subject to the jurisdiction of the existing ombudsmen, will be published in due course.

Broadband in the UK

The Earl of Northesk: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by Lord Macdonald of Tradeston on 11 July (WA 81), whether any new or revised targets in respect of government services online and UK broadband delivery and penetration are being contemplated; and, if so, when and in what terms these are to be introduced; and
	Further to the Written Answer by Lord Macdonald of Tradeston on 11 July (WA 81), whether "availability of broadband services as a foundation for market evolution" is an appropriate and coherent means of measuring delivery of the Government's target "to have the most extensive and competitive market for broadband in the G7 by 2005; and
	Further to the Written Answer by Lord Macdonald of Tradeston on 11 July (WA 81), whether availability rather than take-up of broadband is the criterion by which they will now assess whether the target "to have the most extensive and competitive market for broadband in the G7 by 2005" has been achieved.

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: We have no plans to revise the targets: i) that all government services should be available electronically by 2005; and ii) for the UK to have the most extensive and competitive broadband market in the G7 by 2005.
	On broadband, we have asked the stakeholder group to advise us on the quantifiable measures by which we should measure progress towards our broadband target. We have received a progress report from the stakeholder group which recommends setting up indices to compare price, competition, coverage, addressable market and take-up. This report is available at http:/www.e-envoy.gov.uk/ecommerce/broadband/bbsgrep menu.htm
	The group expects to publish its final recommendations, alongside a government response to them, in November.

Old Palace Yard

Lord Berkeley: asked the Chairman of Committees:
	What is the cost of the road pavement reconstruction works in Old Palace Yard already undertaken and planned for the future.

Lord Tordoff: The total cost of the scheme to restore Old Palace Yard is £2.64 million. The cost to the House is £2.54 million, and Westminster City Council has agreed to contribute £100,000.
	The works are being carried out over three summers; 2000, 2001 and 2002. In 2000, £667,801 was spent on the works to the west side of Old Palace Yard; in the present year we expect to spend £1.5 million.
	The scheme was approved by the Administration and Works Sub-Committee in June 1998. The House subsequently referred the matter back to the sub-committee. After the sub-committee again recommended the scheme, the House approved it in November 1998.